Sunday Snippet: Domino Effect

Gotta say it's so hard to have my youngest's senior year be put on indefinite hold. So far, the musical is cancelled, which is to be expected. Prom is postponed for now. Graduation is up in the air as far as walking to get a diploma. She's handling it pretty well all things considered. I'm very proud of the level of maturity she's showing.

Not a bad week for television but slower than usual. I've been taking on as much work as I can in case the well runs dry there. Who knows how long the quarantine will last?

I can safely say I'm disgusted by the fact Hiram is a free man on Riverdale. And I'm beyond "meh" about a long-lost daughter showing up. I am very intrigued by the whole flash-forward cut scenes at the end of each episode. I'm very interested to see where those go.

Caught another episode of Danger Man, which started season two for me. I guess I didn't realize the second season went to hour-long episodes. I'm not sure I've seen any of those.

Watched the season two premiere of Roswell, New Mexico. I'll be brutally honest … I'm really not sure I'm down with the whole "let's kill Max" concept. For now, I'm trusting the creator but if I'm let down with where things go, I'll be done watching. I do love Michael's journey so far. I'm not thrilled Maria is still completely clueless about the alien angle, but I'll see how that plays out also. I love where Alex and Kyle are right now. Here's hoping I'm not completely let down by this show.

On a very happy note, I'm in the middle of watching Miss Fisher and the Crypt of Tears and it's so, so good. I'd read reviews that implied it didn't measure up to the series, but, in all honesty, I'm actually pretty pleased with I'm seeing so far. Considering this movie happened because fans were more than happy to crowd source the filming, I'd say the general public can zip it.

That's pretty much it for television this week. Tonight's post is from Domino Effect, a novella that got a start with a writing community prompt.

Here's the mini-blurb:

Every action Frank and Katya take pushes a reaction out of the other. And like dominos, one barrier crashes into the next until nothing is left but a tangle of emotions they have to deal with.

And a sneaky peek…

They had finally let go of each other and turned for their discarded clothes. Frank hadn’t been able to coherently put words together. He rarely could when in close proximity to Katya. So he remained silent.

He feared anything he said would ruin the wonderful feeling he experienced at finally being released from the past and letting Katya in. He cast a furtive look in her direction and the utter sadness on her face almost did him in. She slowly met his gaze and he thought maybe he had imagined what he’d seen because a smile, warm but tentative, spread across lips.

She started to speak. “You know, Frank…” She stopped, catching his eyes trained on her legs smoothly sliding into her pants and she shot him a look.

He shook himself and blinked when she continued. “Sometimes we make the wrong decision for the right reason.”

He met her gaze again, and realized she was halfway dressed and he was still standing there like a lump. He nodded for her to go on, while he scrambled into his own pants.

“We can’t take it back once we’ve acted on it.” Her tanks were back on and she paused. “The only thing we can do is own it.” Her arms slid into her shirtsleeves. “Learn from it.” She shrugged the rest of the way into the fatigue shirt. “And move on.”

Not sure where she was going with her words, he paused in his dressing to shoot her a questioning glance. Her next words really threw him. “Sometimes our mind makes a choice that hurts our heart.” She moved to stand in front of him. “You’re gonna need to remember that and keep it in mind.” Then she leaned in kissed him with a gentle passion. “I’ll see you out there.”

And then she left, leaving him wondering what the hell lurked in that scary brain of hers. Cryptic words aside, there was an almost final note to her kiss that had him worried. He finished dressing with the intention of tracking her down to make sure she was alright, when another thought hit him.

He hadn’t actually said he’d forgiven her … maybe she thought he was still judging her. Or, she could be having regrets for what happened between them. If that were the case, he decided to wait until after the flight test to bring it up. She needed to be on her game for the X-Fury test flight and things were almost always volatile between them, even on a good day. He’d wait until they got back.

Except Katya hadn't returned with him.

And he wondered if he'd pushed her into leaving. It always seemed to play out that way with them. They'd get close to something and Frank would hold back. Not because he didn't want her, he did, sometimes to the point of distraction. He reined it in because her father warned him. Never hurt his daughter.

Frank would never intend to, but Gregor's concern gave Frank pause. Tripped him up and colored more than a few on his interactions with Katya.

The constant push pull between them created friction. A lot of friction. Mostly the good kind … but sometimes not. Katya kept Frank off balance and he needed that, yet she also pushed hard when she wanted something and they'd go at it. Round and round, up, down, back, forth, and sideways. He'd leave to cool off and she'd follow … until he stopped, shot her his 'later, dammit' glare and wham! Her mouth snapped shut and she'd back off.

Frank couldn't do that with anyone else. Take five—or, hell, thirty—minutes to pull his thoughts back in and pick up right where they left off. But the break would see both calm, rational, and in control. Thank god he didn't have to do it with anyone else.

The ability to connect with her on such an elemental level had him finally giving in and deciding he wanted more with Katya. But he wanted to speak with Gregor first, let the man know Frank wanted Katya for keeps … if she'd have him. He respected his mentor enough to lay it out, but the ball would be in Katya's court. She'd make the call.

This one is coming along and I'm hoping to find some extra time to finish it up.

That's it for this week. Catch everyone on the flipside.

ML Skye